c. 2008 Religion News Service

Catholic Charities study links poverty, racism

WASHINGTON (RNS) As the U.S. marks Martin Luther King Day, Catholic Charities USA is issuing a call to sever the ties between poverty and racism.

A new study, “Poverty and Racism: Overlapping Threats to the Common Good,” is part of Catholic Charities’ campaign to cut the U.S. poverty rate in half by 2020. It is to be officially released by the Rev. Larry Snyder, the group’s president, during a Mass Monday (Jan. 21) at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit.

“We are convinced that without a conscious and proactive struggle against racism, our efforts to reduce the plague of poverty will be in vain,” the study says.

For example, the study cites evidence that the poverty rate for African Americans in the U.S. is 24 percent _ three times the rate for whites. Latinos and Native Americans also suffer from poverty rates above 20 percent, according to the study.

On average, white families are 10 times richer than minority families, the study says. And while white families’ wealth grew 20 percent between 1998 and 2001, the net worth of African American households decreased during that period.

At the same time, “the ghosts of our legacy of racial inequality continue to haunt us,” the study says, citing racial violence as well as discrimination in housing and health care.

The Virginia-based charity network, which includes more than 1,700 local agencies and institutions nationwide, is also urging Congress and the White House to enact reforms to the criminal justice system, to improve public schools and housing laws, and to fix the nation’s immigration laws.

“We ask others to join us in our effort to fight racism and cut poverty in half so that together, we can make our country whole,” said Snyder.

_ Daniel Burke

Grassley to write to ministries not cooperating with him

WASHINGTON (RNS) Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is planning to send additional letters to the evangelical ministries that have not fully responded to his inquiry into their finances.

Grassley, who is the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has asked six prominent ministries for financial details to determine if they are following rules about tax-exempt organizations.

“Sen. Grassley is preparing follow-up letters to send to the ministries that have raised concerns or not responded to his inquiries so far,” said Jill Gerber, press secretary for Grassley’s committee.

“It’s been extremely rare for tax-exempt groups to decline to cooperate with his requests for information.”

His office reported earlier this month that it has received materials from just two of the six ministries: Joyce Meyer Ministries in Fenton, Mo., and Kenneth Copeland Ministries in Newark, Texas.

Creflo Dollar Ministries in College Park, Ga., and Bishop Eddie Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., have refused to submit financial records, which Grassley first requested last November.

Without Walls International Church in Tampa, Fla., has sought additional time to respond. And Benny Hinn Ministries in Grapevine, Texas, exchanged messages with the office in December but had not been in further contact.

Rusty Leonard, the CEO of MinistryWatch.com, dismissed criticism that Grassley’s inquiry could lead to additional government regulation of ministries as “absolutely spurious” and urged cooperation.

“Openness, transparency, and complete financial disclosure are the only right answers,” he said.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Mosque agrees to allow training dog

LONDON (RNS) Because it salivates less than usual for canines, a retriever that is being trained for a blind Muslim will become the first dog in Britain to be permitted inside a mosque.

The dog is undergoing training as a guide for 17-year-old Mahomed Khatri. The hope is that the dog will enable Khatri to attend worship more regularly at the Al Falah mosque in the English Midlands city of Leicester.

Dogs are considered in the Islamic faith to be unclean, especially their saliva, and few Muslims in Britain are known to keep them as pets.

But according to the Sunday Times newspaper in London, the mosque gave the go-ahead for Khatri to have the retriever after consulting with imams and scholars at the Muslim Council of Britain.

The retriever, a breed described as less inclined than most dogs to flick spittle, is being trained by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association to curb its instincts to leap up and lick people.

At the Al Falah mosque, the dog will wait in a purpose-built kennel outside the prayer hall while its young owner is worshipping.

Khatri said he was eager to get his new pet, expected in the next few weeks, because “having a guide dog will give me complete independence to go anywhere.”

_ Al Webb

Quote of the Day: Catholic school fundraiser Phil Brach

(RNS) “I pore through licensing files, databases. I can see if someone owns a licensed boat and find the size of it. Maybe he owns a 70-foot yacht. I want to know. We run this school like a business.”

_ Phil Brach, fundraiser for St. John’s College High School in Washington, which has spawned an inordinate number of billionaires. He was quoted by The Washington Post (Jan. 14).

KRE/CM END RNS